Guntur district is one of the twenty six districts in the

Coastal Andhra Coastal Andhra (South costal Andhra) also known as Kostha Andhra is a region in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India. Vijayawada is the largest city in this region. It was part of Madras State before 1953 and Andhra State from 1953 to 1956. ...

region of the

Indian state India is a federal union comprising 28 states and 8 union territories, with a total of 36 entities. The states and union territories are further subdivided into districts and smaller administrative divisions. History Pre-indepen ...

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

. The administrative seat of the district is located at Guntur, the

largest city The United Nations uses three definitions for what constitutes a city, as not all cities in all jurisdictions are classified using the same criteria. Cities may be defined as the cities proper, the extent of their urban area, or their metropo ...

of the district in terms of area and with a population of 670,073. It has a coastline of approximately on the right bank of Krishna River, that separates it from

Krishna district Krishna district is district in the coastal Andhra Region in Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, with Machilipatnam as its administrative headquarters. It is the coastal district of Andhra Pradesh. Machilipatnam is the most populated city in the ...

and NTR district. It is bounded on the south by

Bapatla district Bapatla district is a district in coastal Andhra in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh established on 4 April 2022. The administrative headquarter is Bapatla. The district is formed from part of erstwhile Prakasam district and part of erstwhile ...

and on the west by

Palnadu district Palnadu district is a district in coastal Andhra Region in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. With Narasaraopet as its administrative headquarters, it was formed on 04 April 2022 to become one of the resultant twenty-six districts The district ...

. It has an

area Area is the quantity that expresses the extent of a region on the plane or on a curved surface. The area of a plane region or ''plane area'' refers to the area of a shape or planar lamina, while '' surface area'' refers to the area of an op ...

of and with a population of 20,91,075 as per

2011 census of India The 2011 Census of India or the 15th Indian Census was conducted in two phases, house listing and population enumeration. The House listing phase began on 1 April 2010 and involved the collection of information about all buildings. Informatio ...

. The district is often referred to as the ''Land of Chillies''. It is also a major centre for agriculture, education and learning. It exports large quantities of

chillies Chili peppers (also chile, chile pepper, chilli pepper, or chilli), from Nahuatl '' chīlli'' (), are varieties of the berry-fruit of plants from the genus ''Capsicum'', which are members of the nightshade family Solanaceae, cultivated for t ...

and

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

Etymology

The district derives its name from its district headquarters, Guntur. There are several opinions on the meaning and origin of the word Guntur. The word owes its origin to words like gundu (a rock), gunta (a pond) and kunta (1/3 of an acre). In Sanskrit Guntur is called Garthapuri (Guntlapuri). The earliest reference to Guntur, a variant of Guntur, comes from the Idern plates of Ammaraja I (922-929 AD) of the Chalukyas of Vengi. Guntur also appears in another two inscriptions dated 1147 AD and 1158 AD.

History

The original

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural diffusion ...

name (ancient

Vedic upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the '' Atharvaveda''. The Vedas (, , ) are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute th ...

culture) for Guntur was Garthapuri. The 'Agasthyeswara Sivalayam' in the old city of Guntur is an ancient temple for Siva. It has inscriptions on two stones in 'Naga Lipi' (ancient script). It is said that

Agastya Agastya ( kn, ಅಗಸ್ತ್ಯ, ta, அகத்தியர், sa, अगस्त्य, te, అగస్త్యుడు, ml, അഗസ്ത്യൻ, hi, अगस्त्य) was a revered Indian sage of Hinduism. In the I ...

built the temple in the last ''

Treta Yuga ''Treta Yuga'', in Hinduism, is the second and second best of the four '' yugas'' (world ages) in a ''Yuga Cycle'', preceded by '' Krita (Satya) Yuga'' and followed by ''Dvapara Yuga''. ''Treta Yuga'' lasts for 1,296,000 years (3,600 divine year ...

'' around the

Swayambhu Swayambhu ( sa, स्वयंभू) is a Sanskrit word that means "self-manifested", "self-existing", or "that is created by its own accord". Often, the word swayambhu is used to describe a self-manifested image of a deity, which was not made ...

Linga and hence the name. The 'Nagas' were said to have ruled the region. The place of Sitanagaram and the Guthikonda Caves can be traced (through Vedic

Puranas Purana (; sa, , '; literally meaning "ancient, old"Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature (1995 Edition), Article on Puranas, , page 915) is a vast genre of Indian literature about a wide range of topics, particularly about legends an ...

) back to the traditional timescale ''

'' and ''

Dvapara Yuga ''Dvapara Yuga'' ( Dwapara Yuga), in Hinduism, is the third and third best of the four ''yugas'' (world ages) in a '' Yuga Cycle'', preceded by ''Treta Yuga'' and followed by ''Kali Yuga''. ''Dvapara Yuga'' lasts for 864,000 years (2,400 divine ...

''. Guntur District is home to the second oldest evidence of human habitation in India, in the form of

Palaeolithic The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic (), also called the Old Stone Age (from Greek: παλαιός '' palaios'', "old" and λίθος ''lithos'', "stone"), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone too ...

(old Stone Age) implements. Ancient history can be traced from the time of Sala kings who ruled during the 5th century BCE. The earliest reference to Guntur, a variant of ''Guntur'', comes from the Idern plates of Ammaraja I (922–929 CE), the

Vengi Vengi (or Venginadu) is a delta region spread over the Krishna and Godavari River, (also called Godavari and Krishna districts), the region is also known as Godavari Delta, that used to house world famous diamond mines in the Medieval period ...

Chalukya The Chalukya dynasty () was a Classical Indian dynasty that ruled large parts of southern and central India between the 6th and the 12th centuries. During this period, they ruled as three related yet individual dynasties. The earliest dynast ...

n King. Guntur also appears in two inscriptions dated 1147 and 1158 CE. Brahmi Script inscribed on a Railing Pillar at Velpuru 02

Since the beginning of Buddhist time, Guntur stood in the forefront in matters of culture, education and civilisation.

Gautama Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in L ...

preached at Dharanikota/Dhanyakatakam near Guntur and conducted Kalachakra ceremony, which takes its antiquity to 500 BCE. Taranatha, a Buddhist monk writes: "On the full moon of the month Chaitra in the year following his enlightenment, at the great stupa of Dhanyakataka, the Buddha emanated the mandala of "The Glorious Lunar Mansions" (Kalachakra). Buddhists established universities in ancient times at Dhanyakataka and

Amaravathi Amaravati () is the capital of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is located on the banks of the river Krishna in Guntur district. The Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone at a ceremonial event in Uddandar ...

. Scores of Buddhist stupas were excavated in the villages of Guntur district. Acharya Nagarjuna, an influential

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

philosopher A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...

taught at Nagarjunakonda and is said to have discovered

Mica Micas ( ) are a group of silicate minerals whose outstanding physical characteristic is that individual mica crystals can easily be split into extremely thin elastic plates. This characteristic is described as perfect basal cleavage. Mica is ...

in 200 BCE. Chinese traveller and Buddhist monk Hiuen Tsang (

Xuanzang Xuanzang (, ; 602–664), born Chen Hui / Chen Yi (), also known as Hiuen Tsang, was a 7th-century Chinese Buddhist monk, scholar, traveler, and translator. He is known for the epoch-making contributions to Chinese Buddhism, the travelogue of ...

) visited Amaravati in 640 C.E., stayed for sometime and studied 'Abhidhammapitakam'. He observed that there were many Viharas and some of them were deserted, which points out that

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...

was gaining ground at that time. Xuanzang wrote a glorious account of the place, Viharas and monasteries that existed. Guntur was successively ruled by famous dynasties such as the

Satavahana The Satavahanas (''Sādavāhana'' or ''Sātavāhana'', IAST: ), also referred to as the Andhras in the Puranas, were an ancient Indian dynasty based in the Deccan region. Most modern scholars believe that the Satavahana rule began in the l ...

Andhra Ikshvaku The Ikshvaku (IAST: Ikṣvāku) dynasty ruled in the eastern Krishna River valley of India, from their capital at Vijayapuri (modern Nagarjunakonda in Andhra Pradesh) during approximately 3rd and 4th centuries CE. The Ikshvakus are also kno ...

s, Pallavas, Ananda Gotrikas, Vishnukundina, Kota Vamsa,

Chola The Chola dynasty was a Tamil thalassocratic empire of southern India and one of the longest-ruling dynasties in the history of the world. The earliest datable references to the Chola are from inscriptions dated to the 3rd century BCE d ...

s, Kakatiyas, Musunuris,

Reddys Reddy (also transliterated as ''Raddi'', ''Reddi'', ''Reddiar'', ''Reddappa'', ''Reddy'') is a caste that originated in India, predominantly settled in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. They are classified as a forward caste. The origin of the ...

, Vijayanagara and

Qutb Shahi The Qutb Shahi dynasty also called as Golconda Sultanate (Persian: ''Qutb Shāhiyān'' or ''Sultanat-e Golkonde'') was a Persianate Shia Islam dynasty of Turkoman origin that ruled the sultanate of Golkonda in southern India. After the co ...

s during ancient and medieval times. The famous battle of

Palnadu Palnadu is a region located in Palnadu district and covering a portion of Prakasam district in Andhra Pradesh, India. It is spread over the revenue divisions of Gurazala in Palnadu district and Markapur in Prakasam district. History The regi ...

which is enshrined in legend and literature as '' Palnati Yuddham'' was fought in Guntur district in 1180 CE.

Qutb Shahis, Nizams and later

During the 16th century Guntur became part of the

Mughal empire The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...

. In 1687 CE when the emperor

Aurangzeb Muhi al-Din Muhammad (; – 3 March 1707), commonly known as ( fa, , lit=Ornament of the Throne) and by his regnal title Alamgir ( fa, , translit=ʿĀlamgīr, lit=Conqueror of the World), was the sixth emperor of the Mughal Empire, ruling ...

conquered the Qutb Shahi sultanate of Golconda, of which Guntur was then a part. In 1724 CE, Asaf Jah, viceroy of the empire's southern provinces, declared his independence as the Nizam of

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River, in the northern part of Southern Indi ...

. The coastal districts of Hyderabad, known as the Northern Circars, were occupied by the

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

in 1750. During this time, the Manur Rao family of Deshastha Brahmin community, the Vasireddi family of Kamma community and the Manik Rao family of Velama community were prominent Zamindar families in the present day Guntur district. The Manur Rao family were rulers of Chilakaluripet Zamindari and Sattenapalle Zamindari, The Vasireddi family were rulers of Amaravathi Zamindari and The Manik Rao family were the rulers of Repalle Zamindari.

Post Independence

The Guntur region played a significant role in the struggle for independence and the formation of

. The northern, Telugu- speaking districts of

Madras State Madras State was a state of India during the mid-20th century. At the time of its formation in 1950, it included the whole of present-day Tamil Nadu (except Kanyakumari district), Coastal Andhra, Rayalaseema, the Malabar region of North and ...

, including Guntur, advocated to become a separate state after independence. The new state of Andhra region named Andhra State, was created in 1953 from the eleven northern districts of Madras State. In 1970, part of Guntur district was split off to become part of the Prakasam district. The district suffers from Naxalite

insurgency An insurgency is a violent, armed rebellion against authority waged by small, lightly armed bands who practice guerrilla warfare from primarily rural base areas. The key descriptive feature of insurgency is its asymmetric nature: small irr ...

and is a part of the Red corridor.

Geography

Guntur district occupies an area of approximately , The Krishna River forms the northeastern and eastern boundary of the district, separating it from

. The district is bounded on the southeast by the

Bay of Bengal The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean, bounded on the west and northwest by India, on the north by Bangladesh, and on the east by Myanmar and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India. Its southern limit is a line bet ...

, on the south by

, on the west by

and on the northwest by NTR district and north east

. Guntur Coast is located on the south east coast of India (also known as the

Coromandel Coast The Coromandel Coast is the southeastern coastal region of the Indian subcontinent, bounded by the Utkal Plains to the north, the Bay of Bengal to the east, the Kaveri delta to the south, and the Eastern Ghats to the west, extending over an ...

) (quotes from NASA site). Krishna river merges into Bay of Bengal at the coastal area of Guntur district. The braided stream channels, broad floodplain, and extensive sandbars suggest that this part of the Krishna river flows through relatively flat terrain and carries substantial amounts of sediment, especially during the monsoon season.

Suryalanka Beach Suryalanka Beach or Bapatla Beach is a beach in Bapatla district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is located approximately 9 kilometers from Bapatla Bhavanarayana Swamy Temple and 50 miles south of Guntur City Guntur () is a city a ...

near Bapatla, ''Bobbarrlanka'' in Repalle, Nizampatnam Beach in

Nizampatnam Nizampatnam is a village in Bapatla district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is the mandal headquarters of Nizampatnam mandal in Repalle revenue division. The Dutch occupied the city for trading from 1606−1668. Etymology Named a ...

are tourist beaches in Guntur coastline.

Demographics

census of India The decennial Census of India has been conducted 16 times, as of 2021. While it has been undertaken every 10 years, beginning in 1872 under British Viceroy Lord Mayo, the first complete census was taken in 1881. Post 1949, it has been conducted by ...

, the district had a population of 4,887,813 with a density of . The total population constitute, 2,440,521 males and 2,447,292 females – a

sex ratio The sex ratio (or gender ratio) is usually defined as the ratio of males to females in a population. As explained by Fisher's principle, for evolutionary reasons this is typically about 1:1 in species which reproduce sexually. Many species dev ...

of 1003 females per 1000 males. The total urban population is 16,52,738 (33.81%). There are 29,60,441 literates with a literacy rate of 67.40%. After bifurcation the district had a population of 20,91,075, of which 1,072,544 (51.29%) lived in urban areas. Guntur district had a sex ratio of 1007 females to 1000 males. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes make up 4,21,861 (20.17%) and 69,017 (3.30%) of the population respectively. At the time of the 2011 census, 86.14% of the population spoke

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode ...

and 12.32%

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

Administrative setup

Collectorate

The Collectorate play a pivotal role in the district administration. Collector in the cadre of IAS heads the district. He acts as the District Magistrate for maintaining Law and order in his jurisdiction. He deals mainly with planning and development. Law and Order, scheduled areas/ agency areas, general elections, arms licensing etc. The Joint Collector, who also belongs to the IAS cadre, runs the Revenue administration under various enactments in the district. He is also designated as Additional District Magistrate. He mainly deals with civil supplies,land matters, mines and minerals,village officers etc. The District Revenue Officer (DRO), in the cadre of Special Grade Deputy Collectors, assists the Collector and Joint Collector in discharging their duties. The District Revenue Officer looks after all the branches of the Collectorate. He deals mainly with general administration and is vested with supervision of day-to-day functions of the collectorate. The administrative officer in the rank of a Tahsildar is the general assistant to the collector. He directly supervises all the sections in the collectorate and most of the files are routed through him. The collectorate is divided into 8 sections as per the administrative reforms taken up by the

Government of Andhra Pradesh Government of Andhra Pradesh, abbreviated as, GOAP, or, Andhra Government, is the subnational government for the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is an elected government with 175 MLAs elected to the Legislative Assembly of Andhra Pradesh fo ...

. * Section A:: Deals with Establishment and Office Procedures * Section B:: Deals with Accounts and audit * Section C:: Deals with Magisterial (Court/Legal) matters. * Section D:: Deals with land Revenue and relief * Section E:: Deals with Land Administration * Section F:: Deals with Land Reforms * Section G:: Deals with Land Acquisition * Section H:: Deals with Protocol, elections and Residual work.

Administrative divisions

The district is divided into Two Revenue divisions, namely, Guntur,

Tenali Tenali is a city in Guntur district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is a municipality and the headquarters of Tenali mandal and Tenali revenue division. The city is renowned for art, culture, drama and hence, it is called ''Andhr ...

. These are sub-divided into 18

mandals A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluka, or taluk) is a local unit of administrative division in some countries of South Asia. It is a subdistrict of the area within a district including the designated populated place that serves as its administr ...

, which are in turn divided as 57

Panchayat Samiti Panchayat samiti is a rural local government (panchayat) body at the intermediate tehsil (taluka/mandal) level in India. It works for the villages of the tehsil that together are called a development block. It has been said to be the "panchayat ...

(Block)s, 712 villages and 16 towns. These 16 towns includes, 1

municipal corporation A municipal corporation is the legal term for a local governing body, including (but not necessarily limited to) cities, counties, towns, townships, charter townships, villages, and boroughs. The term can also be used to describe municipally ...

, 4

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the ...

and 1

census town In India and some other countries, a census town is designated as a town that satisfies certain characteristics. India In India, a census town is one which is not statutorily notified and administered as a town, but nevertheless whose population ...

. Gurazala revenue division was newly formed in the year 2013. Guntur city is the only municipal corporation and district headquarter. Vaddeswaram is categorised as a census town. The 4 municipalities in the district are Mangalagiri, Tadepalle,

, Ponnur.

Mandals

The below table categorises the 18

into their respective revenue divisions in the district:

Parliament segment

Guntur (Lok Sabha constituency)

Assembly segments

Guntur constituency presently comprises the following legislative assembly segments:

Village Panchayats

Guntur district has 1022 Gram Panchayats covering 58 mandals including seized mandals. Panchayat secretaries have been working for the cluster Headquarter Gram Panchayats. The main objective of the Panchayat Raj Department is to provide civic amenities to the rural public.

Erstwhile Talukas

* Before Formation of mandals, Administration was done through Taluka system. * Guntur District had 8 Talukas in 1971, later in 1978 they were increased to 21 Talukas. * In 1985, Mandal system was created and 57 mandals were formed in the district. *In 2018, Guntur mandal is split into Guntur East and Guntur West mandals making a total of 58 mandals.

Cities and towns

Note - * Dachepalli Nagar Panchayat includes Dachepalli and Nadikudi. * Gurazala Nagar Panchayat includes Gurazala and Jangamaheswaram.

Culture

The district has many festivals such as

Rama Navami Rama Navami () is a Hindu festival that celebrates the birthday of Rama, the seventh avatar of the deity Vishnu. people from different parts of Jharkhand attended the world famous international Hazaribagh procession organized in the city every ...

, Maha Sivaratri,

Vinayaka Chavithi ''Vinayaka Chaviti'' is a 1957 Telugu-language Hindu mythological film written and directed by Samudrala Sr. It stars N. T. Rama Rao and Jamuna with music composed by Ghantasala. It was produced by K. Gopala Rao under the Aswaraja Pictures ...

, Vijaya Dasami, Deepawali,

Holi Holi (), also known as the Festival of Colours, the Festival of Spring, and the Festival of Love,The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) p. 874 "Holi /'həʊli:/ noun a Hindu spring festival ...". is an ancient Hindu religious festival ...

, Ugadi,

Eid Eid as a name may refer to: Islamic holidays An Eid is a Muslim religious festival: * ''Eid Milad un Nabi'', alternate name for Mawlid (, "Birth of the Prophet"), the date of observance of the birthday of the Islamic prophet Muhammad * Eid al-F ...

Krishnastami Krishna Janmashtami , also known simply as Krishnashtami, Janmashtami, or Gokulashtami, is an annual Hindu festival that celebrates the birth of Krishna, the eighth avatar of Vishnu. According to the Hindu lunisolar calendar, it is observed ...

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...

. There are hill temple festivals at Kotappakonda, Mangalagiri.

Tourism

Places of historical importance in the district include Ponnur, Undavalli Caves,

Gurazala Gurazala is a town in Palnadu district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is the headquarters of Gurazala mandal , Gurazala Assembly constituency and Gurazala revenue division. It was formed as a municipality combining two Panchayat's of ...

, Mangalagiri, Tadepalle,

and the archaeological museum in Guntur. There are many places of interest like Undavalli Caves.

Tradition and spirituality

Prolaya Vema Reddi built number of Lord Shiva temples during his reign. Number of temples were constructed in Krishna valley during the reign of

Vasireddy Venkatadri Nayudu Vasireddy Venkatadri Nayudu () was a hereditary zamindar of Chintapalli, later Amaravathi, in the Guntur district of India, under the Nizam of Hyderabad and the British East India Company. He had under his control 552 villages and towns locat ...

. Tall towers (''Gaali Gopuram'') of these temples in many villages and towns of Guntur district stand testimony to his devotion and munificence. Some of the famous destinations are ''Nadivelamma Talli Temple'' in Rajavolu, and there will be annual festival on

Full moon day The full moon is the lunar phase when the Moon appears fully illuminated from Earth's perspective. This occurs when Earth is located between the Sun and the Moon (when the ecliptic longitudes of the Sun and Moon differ by 180°). This means ...

in the month of Chaitra maas. ''Amaravathi temple'', the abode of

Lord Shiva Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one o ...

, present in the form of a

Shiva Linga A lingam ( sa, लिङ्ग , lit. "sign, symbol or mark"), sometimes referred to as linga or Shiva linga, is an abstract or aniconic representation of the Hindu god Shiva in Shaivism. It is typically the primary '' murti'' or devotiona ...

. The Auspicious Hill of Mangalagiri town, is dedicated to

Lord Narasimha Narasimha ( sa, नरसिंह, lit=man-lion, ), sometimes rendered Narasingha, is the fourth avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu. He is regarded to have incarnated in the form of a part-lion, part-man being to slay Hiranyakashipu, to end rel ...

with three temples of Panakala Narasimha Swamy on the hill, Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy at the foot of the temple, Gandala Narasimha Swamy at the top of the hill, are also famous. Other famous temples are ''Bhavanarayanaswami temple'' in Bapatla, ''Sri Laxmi Chennakesava Swamy Temple'' in Macherla, ''Kotappakonda'', ''Pedakakani'', ''Vykuntapuram'' in

.and also subramaneswara Swamy temple,polleramathalli temple, agastheswaraswamy temple (which was built in 8 century by agasthaya mahrashi and rebuilt by Sri Krishna Devaraya)

Economy

The Gross District Domestic Product (GDDP) of the district is and it contributes 9.5% to the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP). For the FY 2013–14, the

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

at current prices was . The primary, secondary and tertiary sectors of the district contribute , and respectively to the GDDP. The major products contributing to the GVA of the district from agriculture and allied services are

paddy Paddy may refer to: People *Paddy (given name), a list of people with the given name or nickname *An ethnic slur for an Irishman Birds *Paddy (pigeon), a Second World War carrier pigeon * Snowy sheathbill or paddy, a bird species *Black-faced s ...

cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor pe ...

kapas,

, banana,

milk Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfed human infants) before they are able to digest solid food. Immune factors and immune-modulat ...

, meat and

fisheries Fishery can mean either the enterprise of raising or harvesting fish and other aquatic life; or more commonly, the site where such enterprise takes place ( a.k.a. fishing ground). Commercial fisheries include wild fisheries and fish farms, ...

. The GVA to the industrial and service sector is contributed from

construction Construction is a general term meaning the art and science to form objects, systems, or organizations,"Construction" def. 1.a. 1.b. and 1.c. ''Oxford English Dictionary'' Second Edition on CD-ROM (v. 4.0) Oxford University Press 2009 and ...

electricity Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as describe ...

manufacturing Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer to ...

, transport and

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty ...

Healthcare

Healthcare is provided by government and private institutions. The Guntur Government Hospital provides free healthcare.

All India Institute of Medical Sciences The All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) is a group of autonomous government public medical universities of higher education under the jurisdiction of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare , Government of India. These institutes h ...

(AIIMS) is situated in Mangalagiri. The nonprofit or charity hospitals are the Sankara Eye Hospital.

Transport

The total road length of

state highway A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either ''numbered'' or ''maintained'' by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered by a ...

s in the district is . There exists of rail network in the district.

Education and research

The primary and secondary school education is imparted by government, aided and private schools, under the ''School Education Department'' of the state. As per the school information report for the academic year 2015–16, there are a total of 4,739 schools. They include, 32 government, 2,839 mandal and zilla parishads, 2 residential, 1329 private, 14 model, 24 Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya (KGBV), 296 municipal and 203 other types of schools. The total number of students enrolled in primary, upper primary and high schools of the district are 637,031. The district being home to the capital city, it is experiencing a growth in private international schools as well. The Central Board of Secondary Education,

Secondary School Certificate The Secondary School Certificate (SSC) or Secondary School Leaving Certificate (SSLC), Matriculation examination, is a public examination in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan conducted by educational boards for the successful completion of the seco ...

or the

Indian Certificate of Secondary Education The Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) is an examination conducted by the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations, a private board designed to provide an examination in a course of general education, in accordance wi ...

are the different types of syllabus followed by different schools. The medium of instruction followed by different schools are English, Telugu and Urdu. There are several junior colleges which are under government, residential, social welfare, disabled welfare, private aided and unaided for the purpose of imparting (10+2) education and the students sit for the certificate of Board of Intermediate Education. AC college is the oldest private aided college of the district, established in 1885. The higher education colleges have various fields of study like medical, nursing, degree, post graduate, polytechnic, law, teaching, pharmacy, engineering, veterinary etc. The

Acharya Nagarjuna University Acharya Nagarjuna University (IAST: ''Ācārya Nāgārjuna Vișvavidyālaya'') is a state university in Namburu, Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh, India. History The university was established as Nagarjuna University by Act 43 of 1976 of A.P ...

is a state university which has fourteen autonomous colleges as per Universities Grant Commission. The KMC, GMC, AIIMS are some of the premier medical institutes in Guntur. There are also many private universities like Vignan University,

KL University K L Deemed to be University, formerly Koneru Lakshmaiah College of Engineering (KLCE) and Koneru Lakshmaiah University, is a higher educational institution Deemed to be University, located in Vaddeswaram, Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, India. Estab ...

in the district. The

Acharya N. G. Ranga Agricultural University Acharya N. G. Ranga Agricultural University (ANGRAU) is a public agricultural university with its headquarters at the village Lam, Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh, India. History The original Andhra Pradesh Agricultural University was esta ...

at Lam is a public agricultural university, equipped with a ''Regional Agricultural Research Station''.

Notable people

Aluri Chakrapani Chakrapani (born Aluri Venkata Subbarao; 5 August 1908 – 24 September 1975) was an Indian film producer, screenwriter, and director known for his works predominantly in Telugu cinema. He won two Filmfare Awards for Telugu films. He was also n ...

, film producer * Jamuna, actress *

Krishna Krishna (; sa, कृष्ण ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme god in his own right. He is the god of protection, compassion, tenderness, and love; and is on ...

, film actor * Kanna Lakshminarayana, former State Minister and BJP National Leader * Posani Krishna Murali, actor, writer * Dokka Manikya Vara Prasad, former State Minister * Ambati Rayudu, former Indian Cricketer *

Kotha Raghuramaiah Kotha Raghuramaiah (1912 –1979) was an Indian politician who served as a Member of Parliament and Cabinet Minister of Parliamentary Affairs. Family Raghuramaiah was born on 6 August 1912 to Kotha Jagannadham and Kotamma in Sangam Jagarlamudi ...

, Member of Parliament and former Central Minister *

N. G. Ranga Gogineni Ranga Nayukulu (7 November 1900 – 9 June 1995), also known as N. G. Ranga, was an Indian freedom fighter, classical liberal, parliamentarian and farmers' leader. He was the founding president of the Swatantra Party, and an exponen ...

, Member of Parliament * N. Bhaskara Rao, former Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh * Alla Ayodhya Rami Reddy, Member of Parliament and Founded Ramky Group of Companies * A. V. Gurava Reddy, leading surgeon *

Bhavanam Venkatarami Reddy Bhavanam Venkatrami Reddy (18 July 1931 – 7 April 2002) was the chief minister of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh (AP) between February 1982 and September 1982. He was a member of the Congress party and served as cabinet minister in various ...

, former Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh *

Kallam Anji Reddy Kallam Anji Reddy (10 August 1941 – 15 March 2013) was an Indian entrepreneur in the pharmaceutical industry, the founder-chairman of Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, which he established in 1984, and chairman of Dr Reddy's Foundation (DRF), the corpo ...

, the founder of Dr. Reddy's Laboratories * Kallam Satish Reddy present Chairman of Dr. Reddy's Laboratories * Savitri, actress * Sharada, actress and Member of Parliament * Sumalatha, actress and Member of Parliament

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

Official site

Guntur district marked on OpenStreetMap
{{Authority control Districts of Andhra Pradesh Coastal Andhra